Nana's Funeral

Andrew Slay

Stand Alone • Sermon • Submitted 7 months ago • Presented 7 months ago

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Introduction

Today, we have the privilege of celebrating the life of Virginia Dean Ferrel.

For those of you that were her friends, you knew her as “Deanie,” for Teresa and Lee, you knew her as Mom, but for me, my sister, and my cousins, we knew her as Nana.

Nana was a faithful wife, a loving mother, a caring grandmother, and a trustworthy friend.

If you knew Nana, you knew she loved to travel, she loved to talk, and she loved to have fun.

Story of her having fun. . .

All the times growing up, when Nana and Papa came to visit, the goal was always, “lets have some fun fun!”

When I would call her on the phone while in college, she would always ask me how school is going. After telling her about my classes and homework she would always say. . . “gosh, that’s a lot of work. . . make sure you make time to have some fun!”

But as much as a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and friend Nana was, most importantly, she was a follower of Jesus Christ.

Nana become a follower of Jesus in 1948 when she was ten years old. It was at church camp where she heard the gospel, repented of her sins, and trusted in Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

After coming to faith she joined Temple Baptist church and was a faithful Church member for over 60 years.

She also sought to follow Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations, actively teaching a Sunday School class to elementary school girls, and having them over for slumber parties to grow in her relationship with them and point them to Jesus.

And she continued to remain steadfast in her faith up until her death as she longed for heaven and to be with Jesus.

Nana loved learning, reading, and talking about heaven.

Towards the end of her life, I always saw a book about heaven with her that she was reading.

But the reason why Nana longed for heaven so much was not due to the place. . . but who is there. . . for heaven is where the Lord dwells.

To be in heaven means to be in the presence of the Lord.

This is where Nana longed to be. . . in the presence of her blessed savior.

So, with that in mind, I think it is fitting that Nana would want us to talk about heaven and being in the presence of Jesus, where she is now, as we celebrate her life on earth today. . . and I cannot think of a better text to read from then John 14:1-6.

Context

In John 14, Jesus was preparing his disciples for his departure, giving them final instructions before he would be crucified and then rise again from the dead.

Jesus knew that his disciples’ would be fearful and troubled when he left them, so he spoke these words to them in John 14 to comfort their hearts and remind them of their heavenly hope. . . and so he speaks these same words to comfort our hearts today. . .

So, If you have a Bible, join with me in reading this passage. . .

John 14:1–6 ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

In this passage Jesus provides us with three things to comfort our hearts as we mourn the loss of Nana today. . .

First, He provides us with His Peace.

Second, He provides us with His Presence.

Last, He provides us with His Path.

He Provides Us With His Peace (vs. 1)

Jesus begins in verse 1 by providing the disciples with his peace.

He tells us today, the same message as he told the disciples. . . “let not your hearts be troubled any longer.”

Why?

Because Jesus himself is peace and gives peace to those who are troubled and afraid.

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Jesus says the way we can have this peace is through believing in the Father and in him. . . for Jesus and the Father are one.

You see faith in Christ provides us with many experiences of peace. . .

Faith in Christ gives us peace with God.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Faith in Christ also gives us peace with one another.

Ephesians 2:13–17 says that Jesus is the one who breaks down the barriers we have between other people and helps us reconcile with others who have offended us or may be different from us.

Faith in Christ gives us peace even in death

John 11:25–26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Faith in Christ frees us from the fear of death because Jesus conquered death on the cross and his glorious resurrection!

Jesus can give us peace because he is our great high priest who can sympathize with our weakness!

HE KNOWS HOW WE FEEL RIGHT NOW!

Nana had this peace.

She trusted in Christ and knew the hope that awaited her when her life on earth was done. . . . and she would want each of you to have this same peace in Christ today.

He Provides Us With His Presence (vs. 2-3)

In verses 2-3, the second thing Jesus provides for us in our time of affliction is in the promise of his presence.

Jesus told his disciples that he was leaving them so that he could prepare a place for them so that they could be with him forever.

Notice the promise that Jesus says in verse 3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

This promise is the same for us if we have trusted in Christ for our salvation. He is preparing a place for us to be with him forever. . . and HE WILL come back and get us.

This speaks of his great love for us.

But in the mean time, the wonderful promise of Scripture is that He has given us the Holy Spirit to comfort us and strengthen us while we await his return.

We were made for God, and the greatest way we could be comforted today is to know that death is not the end for those who trust in Christ and when we die. . . it will be considered “gain.”

This is because all those who trust in Christ will be in the presence of the Lord at death. . . and will one day be raised from the dead in a glorified body to reign with the Lord in the new heavens and new earth.

This is the home that Nana is waiting for as she now basks in the glory of the Lord’s presence right now. . . and this is the home for each of us who have trusted in Jesus. . . so let not your hearts be troubled.

He Provides Us With His Path (vs. 4-6)

The last thing in verses 4-6 Jesus provides for us during our suffering is his path. . . this is ultimately the path to his peace and the path to our place in his presence.

Jesus said in verse 6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The only way we can have Christ’s peace and experience his presence is by following his path that leads to life through repentance and faith in him alone.

You see, Jesus came to provide the path for us to God because we cannot get to God on our own.

God originally made us for a relationship with him so that we could enjoy his presence forever. . . in the beginning, there was no death, no suffering, no pain.

But we have all chosen to reject our good and loving creator, and instead of enjoying him, we have chosen to enjoy and worship ourselves.

The Bible calls this rejection of God sin . . . and it is sin that has separated us from God and brought about judgment and death to us all.

Therefore, sin and death are like roadblocks in the way of our path back to God.

But this is why God, being rich in mercy, sent Jesus to provide us with a path to get back to him.

You see. . . Jesus is the only way because only he came to this earth and became a man. . . and only he, being fully God and fully man could represent us. . . only he could live a perfect life for us that we could not live and only he could pay for our sins on the cross and take God’s wrath in our place.

Jesus is the only way to life because he has life in himself, and only he rose again from the grave never to die again.

Many people try to find different ways to overcome their sin and fear of death. . . they seek many paths to get to God. . . whether it be through meditation, other religions, counseling, self-help, trying to be a good person, or just hoping things get better.

But Jesus makes clear there is only one way to be forgiven of your sin. . . there is only one way to overcome death and be in God’s presence. . . and that is through repentance and faith in him.

He is the narrow gate, and all who enter by him through repentance and faith will find life. . . but those that choose not to enter by him and pursue the broad road. . . their lives will end in death and destruction in hell.

Nana knew the path and took the path that leads to life through trusting in Jesus. . . and I think if Nana were here, especially after the perspective she experienced on Friday afternoon in seeing Jesus face to face. . . she would want you to choose this path too.

My prayer is that you, perhaps even today for the first time, may experience the nearness of God, and know Christ as your savior so that you might know the assurance of faith in the midst of sorrow.

It is with great joy that I can stand before you today and offer you assurance of a decision that Nana had made; and that was to trust Christ and to embrace the faith that we have discussed here today. So, because God has graciously saved her through repentance and faith in Jesus, Nana is in the presence of Christ today and experiencing great gain.

This truth reminds me of what the Psalmist said in Psalm 73:23-28. . .

Psalm 73:23–28 “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”